Vitamin C research called 'hog wash'

What are the pleasures and frustrations of writing a medical column? The best reward is the response from readers whose health has been helped by a column. The greatest frustration is when my topics trigger a negative response from doctors who provide no scientific explanation for their opinion.

Several weeks ago I presented evidence that vitamin C in large doses, along with amino acids, could prevent heart attack. The response from one of the leading cardiologists in this country: "It's hog wash."

And yet not one cardiologist has urged that a study be done to prove this theory right or wrong.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal, having previously published my opinion on controversial matters, refused to publish this article. Its reason? There was no scientific evidence to support the use of vitamin C. How much evidence does it need?

Fact No. 2 - Dr. William Stebhens, professor of pathology at Wellington University in New Zealand, agreed that Pauling was right. That it was mechanical stress on coronary arteries that triggered heart attack.

Fact No. 3 - Researchers at Ulleval University Hospital in Norway reported a study that vitamin C in fruits and berries was associated with decreased atherosclerosis in carotid arteries. So if small amounts of vitamin C decrease hardening of arteries, what would larger amounts do?

Fact No. 4 - Dr. Sydney Bush, a distinguished professor of optometry in England, took pictures of retinal arteries, prescribed large doses of vitamin C and a year later took more photos. The latter showed that high doses of vitamin C, along with the amino acid lysine, reversed hardening of arteries.

Fact No. 5 - Critics should reflect on why humans get heart attacks and animals do not. Goats manufacture 13,000 mg of C daily and increase it to 100,000 mg if ill. Yet health authorities claim humans only need 60 mg daily! This amount keeps us from getting scurvy, but does not protect us from heart attack.

I believe it's arrogance beyond belief to say that the work of Pauling and these other scientists is hog wash.

You cannot patent vitamin C so no one can make any money from this research. Moreover, many researchers receive research grants from the manufacturers of cholesterol-lowering drugs. And medical journals rely on pharmaceutical ads for their survival.

For years cholesterol-lowering drugs have become ingrained in doctors' minds as the be-all-and-end-all for the prevention of heart attack. History has repeatedly shown that new medical ideas are fraught with trouble.

Ignaz Semmelweiss proved that the washing of physicians' hands after an autopsy saved obstetrical patients from dying of infection. His colleagues said it was "hog wash."

Preventive medicine is not an easy sell. But I believe it would be a great motivating factor for patients to take vitamin C (and also improve lifestyle) when a photo of their retinal arteries shows a severe blockage and the likelihood of an impending heart attack.

Hopefully there are other optometrists and cardiologists in this country who, with open minds, would help to prove that vitamin C is effective in preventing coronary attack.

If that's not the case, I believe history will prove they are making a huge error.